Brassiere



BRASSIRE. APPLICATION FILED OCT. I5. 1920.

Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

TTOHNEYS PATENT OFFICE.

, MAE Y. PRUZAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BRASSIRE.

Sp animation of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

Application 1ed October 15, 1920. Serial No. 417,202.

To all whom t may concern.

Be it known that I, MAE V. PRUzAN, a citizen of the United States, `and resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county of New York and State of sires serving to conceal the corset and also to support the. bust where low cut corsets or girdles are worn. especially the camisole and brassire, have come into vogue to supplement the figure molding garments made of heavy weight, and relatively stiif material braced with steels and bone, such as corsets, which now are seldom, if ever designed to' extend upwardly to support the bust, but terminate a trifie above the waist line, leaving the upper part'of the body free and unsupported.

Further in connection with body garments of this class, it is well understood, that it has been customary to employ a fastening medium such as hooks and eyes for securing the end edges of the garment together. In applying, the fastening means employed has lain against the body of the wearer to the eXtreme discomforture of the same.-

Having this in mind, l have constructed a garment, and more particularly a brassire, which will serve t-o support and reduce the bust, at the same time eifectually shaping the igure above the corset. y

A further object of my invention is the provision of a brassire which will serve both to support and reduce the bust, and to effectively support and shape the body of the wearer above the corset, and at the same time serve as a camisole or decorative corset'.

covering.

A still further obj ect of my invention is to provlde a brassire of a design such that Such garments, more fabrication of the garment can be performed with a minimum of operation.

An other object of my invention is.vthe provision of a brassire which will be durable, neat and attractive in appearance and suiable for wear under the sheerest materia Still another object of my invention is the construction of a brassire in which the fastening means employed will not contact with the body of the wearer so that no discomfort in wearing the same may be felt.

Reference is had to the attached sheet of drawings as illustrating one practical embodiment of my invention, and in which- Figure 1 is a front view of the garment illustrated on the figure.

Figure 2 is a rear of the garment illustrated on the figure.

Figure 3 is a view of Athe garment `unfolded and laid fiat. Figure 4 illustrates the manner of cutting the strip of material from which the garment is made.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrating one of the fastening means employed.

Figure 6 shows the second of the fastening mediums.

Figures 7 and 8 are sectional side views showing the fastening mediums, as has been illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, and

Figure 9 is a sectional side view showin the fastening mediums co-operating one wit each other and in applied position.

lit isof course, understood that in any brassire the lower edge thereof extends below the breasts of the wearer and the upper edge above the breasts and as the horizontal line on a plane with the nipples, is the largest part of the bust it is necessary that the diameter of the longitudinal central portion of the brassire should be greater than that of eithery of its upper or lower edges. lHeretofore, this has been accomplished either by forming the brassire of severalV sections laced together, or by forming the brassire of a number of pieces of material so shaped and sewed together as to produce the desired result. A most serious objection to a brassire formed under either of these methods is that in cases where the size of the breast is constantly changing (as for instance, before child birth when the breasts are gradually i must be constantly manually adjusted, or,

one size must be constantly discarded for another. I have overcome this difficulty by providing a brassire which, through a series of folded plaits or gathers, is self adjusting to the breasts and also self adjusting to the fatty portions under the arms and to the corset upon which it is worn. In each laundrying of my brassire the folded darts are ironed and'held down by the starch and thus it is reduced through the laundrying process toits smallest circumference, then when the garment is placed upon the body if its then size is insufficient to close around the body, the folded plaits or gathers. will, through the pressure of the bust, unfold the gathers or plaits to an extent sufficient to permit the brassire to firmly fit and to be hooked up around the body.

Proceeding to a detailed description of the preferred form of my invention as illustrated in the drawings; the brassire comprises a snug fitting vest or garment 5, of substantial material, such as satin or corset material, preferably of non-elastic but which may also be elastic closing at the back 6 by means of hooks 7 and eyes 8, concealed by overlapping flaps of material 19 and 20. The garment is Worn over the corset 15 and is held in place by means of shoulder straps 11 fastened to the undulated or sinuous upper edge thereof, and an eye 12 adjustably attached to an elastic or web suspension 13 at the lower edge, said eye 12 being adapted'to engage hook 14 on the corset 15. The lower edge of the garment is provided with a hem 16 and within it is an elastic band 17, cut to proper length and entirely concealed by said hem, which serves to draw the lower edge of the material together to approximately the waste line of a given size.

It will be observed that the body portion of 7 the garment is made of a single continuous oblong strip of material, illustrated in Figure 4, the top edge of which is cut to conform to the body. That is, the undulated or sinuous upper edge is made convexly arcuate at the center in the form of a raised portion, which slopes downwardly on opposite sides and is made concavely arcuate at the points where the same passes beneath the arms or arm pits, the remaining ends extending upwardly and being convex to the ends which are fastened at the back, thus providing an uninterrupted front portion.

Projecting inwardly from the lower and upper edges of the garment I provide a plurality of gathers or wedge shaped folds 18, by means of which the material is gathered to shape the garment and distributed in such manner as to provide a firm and efficacious support for the body; notably the fleshy portions beneath the arm pits which are held between the respective pairs of folds or gathers projecting inwardly from the lower edge of the garment and at both sides thereof. It should also be noted that the upper gathers or folds 18 are located immediately outward of the point of connection of the shoulder straps 11, while the lower gathers or folds 18 are'located between the points of connection of the ends of the shoulder straps at the sides of the garment, thus giving the proper conformation and supporting effect.

It will be observedthat the elastic waist band 17 cooperates with the gathers 18 at the lower edge of the material at the hem, from which the darts extend, vto gather and shape the garment to fit the figure and support the body above the termination of the corset; and that the garment is closed simply by hooking thus dispensing with draw-strings which are commonly employed to close and tighten apparel of this kind.

The design of the brassire, with special reference to such structural features as the means employed, cooperating to shape the material and to hold it firmly against the body, and those for holding the garment in place, described above, lends itself readily to variation of measurements from standard sizes, thus insuring proper fitting and support of every figure without being made to measure and conduces to the comfort of the wearer.

Now with a view of providing means which will prevent the fastening means utilized from coming into contact With the body of the wearer, it will be noted that the material at both ends of the garment is preferably folded inwardly to form hems, on the inner sides of each of the strips of fabric 19 and 20. These strips may conveniently be retained in position by any suitable means, but I prefer to employ stitching 21, it being noted that the loops of the hooks and eyes and 8 respectively are preferably pierced by the stitching 21 to retain the same in applied position without the necessity of employing supplemental labor to secure these members.

It is to be noted in this connection that both the hooks and eyes have their engaging portions, i. e. the base ofthe U shaped portion of the hook 7, and the apex of the loop of the eye 8 extending to a point substantially intermediate the side edges of the strips 19 and20. Thus these strips will be caused to overlap their side edges, being substantially in line with each other.

Thus the hooks and eyes will lie between the strips which will conceal them from being apparent upon the outer face of the garment as effectively as they will prevent the securing means coming in contact with the body of the wearer. Thus the objection incident to the attachingv means as was brought out in the preamble is avoided.

'- elastic means at the the lower edge; and expansible plaits extend-k ing through the longitudinal center whereby the longitudinal central portion thereof will adjust itself to the nsize of bust upon which it is worn.

3. A brassire form'ed offa single band of fabric and having a smooth imperforate bust embracing portion with an elastic band at.

the lower edge, and means'whereby the longitudinal central portion thereof will adjust itself tothe size of bust upon which itv is' worn; said .means consisting of expansible plaits extending down from the upper edge o-f said brassire and expansible plaits extending up from the lower edge thereof. J l

4. A brassire formed of a single ,band of fabric and having a smooth imperforate bust embracing portion with an elastic band at i vthe lower edge, and means whereby the lower part thereof will ad'lust itself to the shape of'a corsetover whic itis worn, said means embracing expansible. plaits extendmg up 'from the lower edge of the brassire.

5. A brassire formed of a single band of fabric, provided with a sinuous upper edge, and having a smooth I bracing portion, and means whereby the brassire will adjust itself to the size of the bust upon which it is worn, said means embracing expansible plaits extending up from. the lower edge of the brassire in combination with an elastic band, extending throughout the length `of said edge,the central portion of said sinuous edge being convex and extending above other parts thereof.

6. A brassire formed 'of a singlev piece of fabric and means whereby its lower Yportion vv'villnicely adjust itself tothe form of a corset over which it is worn, said means con-A Isisting ble plaits and an elastic band enclosed in the lower Vedge of said piece.

7. A one-piece brassire havin an expansiblel plaited automatically seladjusting portion expansible and contractible, vand an elastic band cooperating with the said. expansible portion to s'erve with the same in its expanded and, contracted conditions to render the brassire self-adjusting.-

MAE v. PRUZAN.

imperforate bustv emof the combination o-f loose expa-nsi- 

